


The Prince and the Stable Boy

by Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Forbidden Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2020-07-12 05:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 12,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19940698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth/pseuds/Silver_Shortage_in_Markarth
Summary: Their love would never be accepted.That wasn't going to stop them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be for Jearmin week but I didn't really give enough of a shit to follow the prompts

Once upon a time, on an island cut off from much of the world, there was a small kingdom called Shiganshina. 

Although it was not an entirely peaceful land, and the occasional serious conflict would arise, the people of the land were generally a good and happy lot. The prosperity of it all, they could all point to their beloved king. A good and righteous man, he was also quite wise and helpful to his people.

However, in recent months, the king had passed away of illness, plunging Shiganshina into deep mourning. From the high-ranked nobles to the lower-class farmers, all were aware of the death of their dear ruler. The funeral for the king had an incredible turnout, as a result. 

But even in this dark time of immense grief, still there remained a light of hope for the people. For in the king's place, the ruler next in line would be his young grandson Armin. 

Armin was an adored member of the royal family, as well as its only remaining descendant after the death of the king. Due to the traditions of their society, however, he was not to properly ascend to the throne until the long mourning period for his grandfather had passed. Until that day, he would still be known to the public as 'Prince Armin'.

Some folk did use the term 'His Royal Highness' for him as well, though.

Regardless of his title, however, he still went about his routine from when his grandfather was still alive. Said routine involved going out to the kingdom and acquainting himself with the townsfolk. Just like he also did from before, he kept a low profile as he did this. 

The advisors and assistants from his grandfather's rule were still about, and they definitely didn't want him milling about amongst the common folk. He did it anyway; it helped to be more in tune to their plight. 

In the kingdom, there were several places that Prince Armin enjoyed going to. But there was one place in particular that he loved above all the others; the library. He also had reasons for going in there besides 'it's got that weird yet intoxicating smell of paper and old books'. 

One former advisor had quipped that the smell was more 'desperation and sad people'. Armin had his grandfather get rid of that particular person. 

On this day, it was most serendipitous for him to be in his favorite place. While Prince Armin was going through one of the many sections, he could hear the sound of two men bickering. One he recognized as the librarian; the other, though, he had no clue whatsoever who he was. 

"I'm telling you, sir, there is no such book in regards to that type of animal care!" 

"Well, you did the last time I was here! Don't tell me I imagined an entire trip here! I'm not a moron!" It went on in this fashion, for what felt like _way_ too long. Eventually, the newcomer just gave up and stormed off in a huff. This left the librarian to sigh in exasperation. 

"Lousy, no good piece of- I'll show you 'don't have that book'-"

Now seemed to be a good time to intervene. 

"Excuse me," Armin said to the man as he went over to get his attention. "I'm not sure why he's saying there isn't, but they do have that book in this library."

The man just looked at him, surprised that he was being talked to. 

"Uh...Okay. And how would you know that, you suck the dick of whoever's in charge of the place?" 

Armin decided to pretend he didn't hear that last part.

...

Armin had just finished showing his new pal where his desired reading material was located, when the other man thanked him and kept talking. 

"...I'm Jean, by the way." He actually looked a bit embarrassed to say his name, oddly enough. "I help out with taking care of the animals for some rich noble family. You ever hear of Lady Lenz and her wife Ymir? I work for them." He paused, now glancing over at Armin. "So what do they call you?" 

Right before Armin was about to say who he was, he was interrupted by another person doing it for him. 

"There you are, Your Highness!" Came the sound of one of his advisors. "Everyone in the palace has been searching high and low for you!" The other man took hold of Armin's wrist, pulling him away. As he was getting farther and farther away, Armin somehow managed to wave goodbye at Jean.

In return, Jean waved back, an incredulous look on his face. Clearly he hadn't at all been expecting to meet the future king of Shiganshina in such a place as the library. 

...

No matter how hard he tried, Prince Armin was unable to get much sleep that night. He kept on reliving the moment he'd met Jean earlier that day; it was causing him to toss and turn in bed, enough to completely mess up the bedsheets. Something about the other man was...oddly beguiling. Like his very presence filled a void in the prince's heart he didn't know they had.

Meanwhile, at the estate of Lady Lenz and her wife Ymir, Jean was working late in the stable. 

"If it weren't for the fact it's the only library in town," Jean grumbled while pitchforking fresh hay into one of the horse stalls. "I'd never go back there."

The horse that was residing in the stall didn't appear to be listening; it just continued munching away on its late night meal. Jean didn't really seem to notice; he just needed _something_ to yap at about his grievances. It didn't matter if who or whatever it was farted directly next to his face later on.

Jean then paused in his complaining; today wasn't all bad. He got to meet Prince Armin. That seemed to put a little spring in his step when he remembered. At least it did until he went to sleep for the night; then it just gave him sweet dreams. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to edit this to have better pacing
> 
> So if I forgot to change or get rid of something that's because I didn't notice it

The next morning, Jean was still laying on top of his pallet bed, shirtless and lost in his daydreaming. He was supposed to have gotten out and started work with the animals, but he didn't want to do that right just yet. Instead, his mind was _still_ occupied with the fact that he'd personally met the future king of Shiganshina. 

Jean was then brought back to reality by the sound of yelling and pounding on the door to his small and shabby bedroom. 

"C'mon, you lazyass!" He could hear Lady Ymir calling for him at the top of her lungs. "If you ain't gonna get up soon, I'll feed your disgusting breakfast to the pigs!" That was enough to get Jean out of bed and dressed for the day. Enchanted by the prince or not, he wasn't going to lose his food to the animals.

...

"Your Majesty!" No matter how many times Prince Armin told his two chancellors that they could refer to him by his first name (he did grow up with the both of them, after all), they would still often lapse into calling him by his current royal title. "Your Majesty, are you awake yet?!" 

Prince Armin had hoped his chancellors would recognize that he was tired and let him rest for another hour or two. That, of course, was very much a futile and hopeless wish; given what the two had in store for their beloved pal and leader, it was even more so. 

"Come on, Your Majesty!" Chancellor Jaeger cried out to him while standing in the doorway. "We got a lot to do today!" As for Chancellor Ackerman, she just went in and shook Prince Armin awake. It only took about a couple seconds of her doing that, though, before Prince Armin got the hint. 

After he'd been pulled out of his nice comfy bed, Prince Armin was then subjected to the usual routine of getting ready for the day. With such an extensive wardrobe, he wished to donate some of his clothes to the lower classes. The chancellors told him to hold off on doing that until he actually became king, however.

...

"What took _you_ so long?" Jean's fellow stable worker Sasha asked while she handed him his pitchfork. "Usually you're the first one up and you tend to rub it in our faces."

Jean could only really shrug. "First time for everything, I suppose." He then went off to begin his usual workday. Soon, Jean became so preoccupied by his work, he'd actually forgotten about his breakfast. Or at least he had until he saw another of the stable workers dumping a bowl of porridge into the slop trough.

"There you go, you guys," Connie said to the hogs while he watched them dig in. "Lucky you, Jean got up late. Maybe if you're lucky enough tomorrow, he'll wake up late again and-"

Connie was silenced rather quickly by the feeling of a pitchfork being jabbed towards his ass. 

...

No matter how many times Prince Armin asked where precisely they were all going now, his chancellors kept mum about the whole thing. To say the very least, he didn't like that. In fact, for a second there, he feared that the both of them had found out about his 'inappropriate' actions with a man of a much lower status than him. 

Then he realized how utterly absurd that had to have been-

"Care to tell us where you went last night, your Majesty?" Chancellor Ackerman asked. Almost immediately, Prince Armin practically felt the blood drain from his face. 

"Uh..."

He didn't get to tell her his answer, though. By then, the carriage stopped abruptly in the middle of the street. Following this was a plethora of foul mouthed shouting directed at the driver. In order to see what the commotion was all about, Prince Armin stuck his head out of the window. 

Meanwhile, nearby at Lady Lenz's estate, the stable workers could hear a racket. Now super curious (and against Lady Ymir's protests and demands that all of them get their asses back to work), all of them dropped their tools and went to go check; they could handle any punishments later. 


	3. Chapter 3

As it turned out, the man shouting was an advisor that Prince Armin's grandfather had gotten rid of. The one that had mouthed off about libraries, to be specific. Now he was spewing obscenities about how it was a good thing that the king died. Maybe now he could get his job back with the prince. 

Considering that Prince Armin himself was having to listen to this slander, there wasn't a chance in Hell that was going to happen. 

"Go and make him stop, please," he requested of his chancellors. The both of them were all too happy to oblige for his sake. In what felt like a near-instant, Chancellors Jaeger and Ackerman were out of the carriage and pinning the foul-mouthed heckler straight to the ground. 

Meanwhile, all of Lady Lenz' stable workers looked on with the rest of the nearby civilians. 

"Hey, check it out," Connie said randomly. "It's Lady Ymir after she's had a few too many whiskey on the rocks." That uncalled for comment led to him being smacked upside the head, before having it pointed out to him that he was in the general vicinity of Prince Armin. 

Shockingly enough, at this point, Prince Armin stepped out of his carriage to deal with this nonsense himself. Of course, his chancellors held the man by the arms to keep him in place. 

"Mister Jarnarch, please!" He spoke with as confident as he could muster. "You were dismissed for your countless insubordinations. I had only a small involvement in that." The whole time, Mister Jarnarch struggled against the chancellors. As he was talking, Jean couldn't keep from noticing how handsome the prince looked. 

He then snapped out of it when things escalated, or rather, got worse. 

...

Despite the fact that Chancellors Jaeger and Ackerman had strong grips and were quite capable of subduing anybody, Mister Jarnarch broke free of them. To everyone's shock and horror, he'd pulled out a long serrated knife and made to lunge at Prince Armin with it. 

How the guy managed to hide such a weapon from the chancellors, it would remain a mystery. What didn't stay a mystery was the actions taken next to stop him; not taken by Prince Armin's chancellors, but by someone else. Due to the distance between the two, there had been plenty of time to grab hold of Mister Jarnarch in some way. 

Which was exactly what Lady Lenz' stable workers did. 

Sasha ended up tackling him to the ground. Then, Jean stepped on his back and head, to keep him from getting back up. Finally, Connie grabbed his serrated knife and held it out of his reach. Thanks to their efforts, Chancellors Jaeger and Ackerman were able to deal with the rest of this problem with their help. 

During the time Mister Jarnarch was being led away, Jean and Armin's eyes met. Sure enough, a funny feeling started to manifest in their chests and stomachs. Then Jean looked away; looking at the future king of Shiganshina in that manner wasn't really a good idea. 

...

To show his gratitude for keeping Prince Armin safe, Chancellors Jaeger and Ackerman met with Ladies Lenz and Ymir for an invitation. Evidently, Prince Armin wanted to thank their stable workers in a manner befitting the thankfulness he was truly feeling from today. It wasn't often someone of the lower classes rescued a member of royalty.

All of them were happy to oblige, of course. 

It was while their little celebration party was going on later that night, that Prince Armin wandered off. Noticing this right away, Jean waited until he wasn't occupied with conversation to go find where Armin went. As it turned out, Armin was standing out on a balcony some ways into the castle, gazing upon the sight that was Shiganshina. 

"Shouldn't the crown prince be celebrating with the others when his life was saved earlier that day?" Jean wasn't trying to spook Armin, but he did anyway. Armin spun around so quickly, he nearly caused himself to fall over the railing. When he saw it was only Jean, he calmed down. 

"I wasn't expecting company up here," he said while turning back and leaning against the railing. "Usually I come here to hide from everyone." Armin then looked over at Jean, as the latter approached and stood next to him. "And yes, that includes my chancellors." 

"Yeah, I can see why," Jean responded, now leaning against the rail himself, with his head on his hand. "That Jaeger guy has something about him that I don't like." Then came the awkward silence, before Armin decided to try and fix that; so he went to the subject most prominent on his mind. 

"Thanks for helping me out earlier today. You and your co-workers."

Jean simply waved it off. "Hey, you helped me out at the library before that, so I guess we're even now." Both of them chuckled a little, before going back to staring out over the kingdom. 


	4. Chapter 4

Early the next day, Prince Armin was in bed, -in the middle of reading one of his many books, of course-, when he began to hear hushed quarreling in the hallway. A quick peek out of the doorway, and it was revealed to be his two chancellors causing all of the noise. 

"His body hasn't even been found yet, Eren," Chancellor Ackerman said in a slightly annoyed tone. "You could at least wait until they find and bury him before moving in on his widower." Chancellor Jaeger, interestingly enough, was actually willing to try and argue with her about this. 

"Oh, you just don't like me doing it because his widower is your second cousin-"

Chancellor Ackerman was unappeased. "No. I don't like you doing it because his widower is still in the beginning stages of mourning."

Prince Armin was aware of who the both of them were talking about. He himself had been the one to break the news of Baron Smith's death to his new husband Levi. To say that Levi took it poorly was a complete understatement. Never before did Prince Armin see the ever stoic man break down sobbing. 

And hopefully he would never see him like that again. 

...

Because he couldn't stand listening to his chancellors bicker on about Chancellor Jaeger's love life, Prince Armin found himself out of his castle again. This time, however, instead of the library, he decided to stop by Lady Lenz' estate. He assured himself that it was just curiosity, and nothing else. 

Prince Armin then called himself a filthy liar. 

"Hello?" To Prince Armin's confusion, knocking on the door to Lady Lenz' estate yielded no results; he may as well as not have visited. "Is anyone home? Lady Ymir? Lady Lenz? Weird..."

Against all rules of politeness and legality, he decided to check in the back, where the stables were. There were plenty of animals of several kinds (mostly horses), but none of the workers appeared to be present. Prince Armin was about to turn back and return to the castle, when he caught the sound of...something turning on.

"Eh?" It sounded like it was behind the main stable. Carefully, making as little sound as he could, he made his way over and took a peek. 

And what a peek it was. 

As it turned out, Jean was around all by himself. It looked as though he was taking the opportunity to clean himself up. The prince found himself enchanted by the sight. Jean, on the other hand, looked to be enjoying himself underneath what looked to be some kind of outdoor shower. It was too tempting _not_ to watch, really.

...

Everything about Jean looked to be perfect, Armin noted to himself. 

Jean was facing away from him, letting the water cascade down his back in rivulets. The way he was tanned, his lean muscles, and his nice sculpted ass; it all showed just how seriously he took his job as a stable worker. Armin was then shown the other side of Jean, as the latter turned around and showed another area he was blessed in. 

"Ohhh...!" Armin clasped his hand over his mouth as he made this noise; he didn't want Jean to find out that he was being watched. It was difficult for Armin to keep himself restrained afterwards; seeing Jean begin soaping his hair and body up, and scrub all the dirt and grime off of himself. It was getting to be too much, too quickly. 

In order to not completely blow and ruin his pants, Armin stepped back and hid behind the other side of the stable. He kept himself crouched and so far away, he didn't realize that he _had_ been spotted. He was still grabbing at himself when Jean was done with his shower, and snuck over to look at Armin from behind the wall.

Jean, on the other hand, smirked to himself as he made it clear he didn't mind Armin's company; 

"Enjoy the view, your Majesty?" 

...

Armin became a little too startled when he heard Jean's voice right behind him. By then, his blood chilled and sweat formed on his face. Future king or not, he was doing something someone of his status was not supposed to be doing. He stood up on wobbling legs, not leaving Jean's eyesight for a second. 

"Uh...I was..." Out of a fear that Jean was going to tell on him for being a peeping tom, Armin turned and sprinted off. He ignored Jean's desperate pleas for him to come back, not even bothering to glance over his shoulder until he was well on his way back to the castle. 

He figured that if there were a wet naked man running after him, the following scandal would be unbelievable. It would be best not to have things get to that point. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short boring chapter because I don't know those are really all I write

Dinner that afternoon was painfully uncomfortable. Even if Prince Armin could actually somehow get the image of a wet, naked Jean out of his mind (he actually didn't really want to), it wasn't going to erase the severe discomfort of all that was currently unfolding right in front of him. 

No matter how persistent Chancellor Jaeger was in initiating conversation with the other two, Chancellor Ackerman and Baron Ackerman-Smith simply were not in the mood for chit chat. Chancellor Ackerman was just calmly chewing her fancy steak, and Baron Ackerman-Smith just kept sipping his tea. 

Prince Armin wished he knew what precisely could be done in that situation. He then decided to just get to the point, and say something that was slightly relevant: 

"Just so you're aware, Baron Ackerman-Smith," he told the latter. "We're doing all that we can to find your husband's body. Believe me when I say that we won't rest until his body has been recovered." Baron Ackerman-Smith just slowly nodded, before sipping at his black tea while holding his teacup all funny.

Speaking of black, that was precisely the color he was dressed head to toe in. Seeing just how much he grieved for a man he'd only been married to for about five months (and hadn't really known for much longer than that) just made something hurt in Prince Armin's chest. 

...

Jean was still over the moon over what had happened earlier that morning. Usually, when he was caught showering, it was by one of the other stable workers. But this time was quite different. He would gladly have the future King of Shiganshina watch him again. 

Right now, even his usual bowl of slop (Lady Lenz was having a bit of financial complications lately) didn't taste so nasty. 

It would be perfect if the other stable workers weren't just outside the sleeping quarters, chatting loudly about the other day. Hearing them was enough for Jean to get distracted to the point he almost didn't notice some rather interesting ingredients having been mixed in. 

But he did notice ultimately. And his reaction was about what one could expect. 

...

Sasha and Connie were really into their conversation when Jean came tearing out of the sleeping quarters, and to the other side of the building. Neither of them had to ask why he was doing such a thing; the loud retching noises answered that question for them. 

"Ugh..." Jean managed to stand up and say what caused this issue. "I think Lady Ymir dumped her toenail clippings into my slop-" Some more retching. "And her armpit hair."

Sasha and Connie were fairly certain that their bowls had no such ungodly concoction in their already inferior sustenance. It took a lot for them not to burst out laughing at Jean's misfortune. 

...

That evening after lights out and bedtime had been called, Jean was _still_ scraping hair off of his tongue. By now, the other stable workers were already in their beds next to him, the oil lamps they used having since been put out. Of course, Jean was wide awake. 

In the hopes that maybe some water would help wash out his mouth, Jean got up and lit his own lamp. Then he was out and about looking for the nearest water pump. He didn't find it. Instead, he found what he considered even better than whatever it was he'd been looking for. 

This time, of course, he still had his clothes on. 


	6. Chapter 6

"We really must stop meeting in ways like this," Armin said to Jean as he watched him scrape at something on his tongue.

Due to aforementioned tongue scraping, Jean was unable to give a coherent response. All he could come back with was a slightly compromised 'uh-huh?'. When Armin realized this, he waited patiently until Jean was finished and had taken a drink of water from the pump they were standing next to. 

"Sorry," he said once he stood upright again. "One of my masters thought it'd be funny to put certain...inedible things in my food earlier. I'd punch her if she weren't so scary...or my master." Jean was awfully nonchalant while he was talking with the prince of Shiganshina; especially since he'd seen him completely unclothed. 

This was something that Armin couldn't help but bring up, actually: 

"Aren't you upset that I walked in on you showering earlier today?" 

Jean stared at Armin for a few moments, looking off to the side, before answering with "...No?" Then Jean continued with "I'd consider it an honor. 'The future king of Shiganshina saw me naked'. Pretty sure most people in this little kingdom don't get to have that privilege."

Now Armin felt his face heating up with embarrassment. He tried covering it and turning away, only to feel a hand clasp his shoulder. 

"Relax, Your Majesty," he heard now. "I'm only teasing." That didn't help Armin's little growing problem.

At all.

...

When the awkwardness began showing signs of dissipating, Armin ended up trying to figure out how to save face over everything regarding Jean. Interestingly, Jean must've read his mind in some manner:

"So now that you've seen me naked," he asked with a big smirk on his face, "would we be even if _I_ saw _you_ naked? Or would I end up owing you a favor?" 

Armin didn't say anything, he just started fiddling with the collar of his shirt. The contrast between his high quality attire, and that of Jean's clearly homespun shirt and pants, was rather striking. 

"Maybe we should go back to the castle and find out," Armin finally told him, in a failed attempt to sound coy. He then extended a hand out to Jean, who gladly took it.

...

It turned out sneaking back into a surprisingly well guarded castle was difficult with another person. Armin decided that trying to scale the wall was too dangerous (and idiotic). So, ultimately, he brought Jean into a nearby horse pen, where there weren't any guards. 

"I'm sorry that security is so tight," Armin whispered to Jean. "It was the idea of my chancellors; Grandfather wasn't so worried about all of that. My chancellors, though...

"Well, I guess whatever adult business we're going to work with, it has to be done in a place like this. I'm so sorry-"

Jean interrupted him. "You seen where I live, Your Majesty? I feel right at home here."

Armin stopped and closed his mouth, before giving a gentle smile and nodding. Then he turned away from Jean in order to start undressing himself. The entire time, Jean watched eagerly. Once Armin had stripped down to only his pants, that was when Jean stopped him by grabbing his wrist. 

"That's enough." By now, Jean's voice became slightly gravelly. "You take off any more, and I'm gonna lose it." Armin's cheeks were turning red again. He also hoped that neither of his chancellors were nearby. Surely the horses wouldn't narc on him either. 

So Armin quietly watched as Jean removed his own shirt, once more revealing his impressive physique. He tried not to back away as Jean stepped closer to him. 

"Hey, c'mon Your Majesty," Jean said teasingly. "I don't bite... very hard."

"It's not that, it's just..." Armin pondered his following words carefully. "We shouldn't do this, what if someone sees us?"

Jean scoffed. "Then they ought to mind their own business, and not sneak around the castle at night." He then reached out and caressed Armin's upper arm. His hand trailed down, and took hold of Armin's. With a smirk, he lifted it up and pressed his lips against Armin's fingers. 

"It's an honor to be in your presence, Your Majesty," he quietly murmured. Now Armin was feeling hot all over, but tried keeping his composure. 

"Please just call me Armin," he said. 

"Well, okay then...Armin." The way Jean slowly purred out his name was breathtaking. 

They didn't say anything more, stepping closer to one another, right into each other's arms. Armin leaned his head against Jean's chest, letting him smooth his long fingers through his hair. He sighed contentedly, never wanting this moment to end. 


	7. Chapter 7

Unbeknownst to Jean and Armin, they were being watched from somewhere not entirely conspicuous. It was also someone that wouldn't be at all suspected. 

Levi was still in some form of denial upon hearing that his husband was killed while off in another country. However, that denial was now beginning to edge into anger ('how dare you die and leave me alone'). Now, any time Levi saw a happy couple, it drove him into complete jealousy. 

It was even more so right now, seeing Prince Armin embracing a lowly stable boy while the two were shirtless. Mostly, he was jealous of the stable boy; he got to be in love instead of Levi, evidently. Levi wasn't even upset that the two men in the barn were of completely different social classes. 

The latter part could still be useful information for whatever reason, though. 

Now, having seen enough, Levi turned and kicked the side of the barn. It wasn't until he heard the other two inside that he realized how stupid it was to have done. 

"What was that?!" Prince Armin cried out. 

"Dunno," the stable boy answered him. "I'll go check it out." As quickly as his restrictive mourning attire would let him, Levi was now quickly running off into the darkness. He didn't even consider slowing down until he got back home, out of fear that Prince Armin would punish him somehow. 

...

When Jean came back from searching, he looked frustrated and annoyed at having his wonderful moment with the prince interrupted. In reality, he was more scared that someone had seen them and was going to tell on them. Neither of them could afford a scandal of that caliber. 

"Anybody?" Jean heard Armin talk in total fright. 

"Didn't see them." He approached once more, taking hold of Armin's hands into his own. "But for now, maybe we should be fine. Unless you want me to bring you back to the castle...?"

Armin shook his head. "It should be okay. _We_ should be okay."

"Well, all right then." Jean paused. "In that case..." He paused again, looking off to the side as if he were all shy now. "If I may be so bold as to, uh, steal a kiss from Your Majesty? I know that I'm not supposed to steal anything, especially from the prince of Shiganshina, but-"

Armin responded to his request by giving him what he was asking for, very enthusiastically. The amount of force he'd used to throw himself toward Jean was enough to knock them both to the ground. Jean obviously wasn't expecting that, but he went along with it anyway. 

...

Morning came far too quickly. Armin had to go back to the castle, and Jean back to Lady Lenz's estate. 

What initially began as a mere kiss (albeit a passionate one) turned into rolling about the barn, unable to keep their hands off one another. Then _that_ became hands shoved down pants, pulling out hard cocks and stroking. Needless to say, Jean and Armin had had an awful lot of cleaning up to do before they left. 

Jean was still picking hay out of his already messy hair when he got back to the stables. He was at least willing to put up with Sasha and Connie's teasing when they saw him doing that. 

As for Prince Armin, he was ultimately bombarded with frantic questions of his whereabouts, by (who else?) his two chancellors. All he could really do was answer them as best he could. While this was happening, he saw Baron Levi swishing into the castle down the corridor (his mourning robes were really quite long). 

The impromptu Q&A wasn't over quick enough; at least Chancellor Jaeger stopped when he realized that Baron Levi was here. Then he just went and tried to flirt with him instead. Then Chancellor Ackerman followed, displeased at seeing him follow her cousin around like some kind of puppy. 

Prince Armin was still relieved when they were gone, though. Now he could get ready for whatever activity or event was planned for him today. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took too long to actually update this whoops

The next time Jean and Armin met up, it was over at Lady Lenz' and Lady Ymir's estate, in one of the farther off stables away from the rest of the buildings. In other words, there wouldn't be too many potential looky-loos seeing their illicit romantic actions in progress. 

Both of them had torn off each other's shirts right away, and commenced with the feverish making out. They were at it until Armin pulled back for air. 

"I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your superiors earlier today," Armin said to Jean as he leaned back to look at him. 

Jean only shrugged. "Not much more as I tend to be, just teasing from the other workers. I'm used to it."

The two of them then resumed their actions. Armin was getting so into it that he began to grind his crotch against Jean's. Seeing how the prince was acting, Jean couldn't help but comment on it:

"Never knew the future king of Shiganshina could be so _naughty_ ," he purred into Armin's ear. Armin couldn't stop himself from shivering pleasurably. "I don't know if this kingdom could handle such a bold ruler." Armin simply bit his lip, and prepared himself for all that Jean had to give to him. 

...

When the morning arrived a few hours afterward, Armin roused himself to find that he had ended up staying the night in the horse stable. It hadn't been the least bit comfortable, but he was only realizing that now (Jean had been rather...distracting the night before). 

As for Jean himself, he was sound asleep next to Armin, laying on his arm and with his hand quite deep into his pants. Armin found it both precious and hilarious. He was about to tell him to wake up, when there came a loud (and rather angry) banging on the stable door. 

"Come on, Jean!" Another young man's voice called out. "You want your breakfast to be given to the pigs again?" Hearing this was what got Jean to awaken; he scrambled to his feet and quick pulled his hand out of his pants, trying to make himself more presentable. Armin tried not to snicker.

"Have a good day at work, dear," he whispered to Jean as he got up himself to find another exit out of the stable. His voice made Jean turn around and stare at him while blushing. 

"Uhhh, yeah. Same to you, Your Ma-Armin. Same time tonight or-" 

Here the banging resumed, much more forceful than before. This of course was responded to by Jean whipping his head back and shouting for 'Connie' to be patient and that he was coming. Jean at least had enough time to bid a proper farewell to Armin, and watched him jump out of a window to run back to the castle. 

Jean couldn't stop staring at Armin's ass and drooling while he was running off.

...

"So what are you doing later today, Baron Levi?" Chancellor Jaeger was quite persistent in his efforts to seduce Baron Smith's widower. Of course, many people could see that it was something of a futile endeavor. All Baron Levi cared about right now was drinking tea and grieving. 

To try and make this clear, Baron Levi flattened his hand against Chancellor Jaeger's face, and pushed him as far away as he could. He then went back to sipping at his aforementioned tea. 

Prince Armin watched all of this (along with Chancellor Ackerman beginning to seethe next to Chancellor Jaeger), and sighed internally. He then tried desperately to think of _something_ to say, to try and diffuse this uncomfortable situation. 

"So I've been thinking of perhaps getting another horse," he all but blurted out, getting the attention of everyone at the table. Then he went on. "I think one of the horses I already have might be lonely, so I want to get another one for her. I was hoping that might help her."

Once Prince Armin had started, there was really no stopping him. It was as he was talking, in fact, that another idea came to mind. One that would benefit him, mostly.

"...And maybe also have a stable worker to help out? That way helping them won't be such a chore..."

It was by this point that Prince Armin was yanked out of his chair by Chancellor Ackerman. She then proceeded to drag him out of the castle, Chancellor Jaeger getting up and following close behind. Once Baron Levi watched them all go, he went back to, as always, sipping his damn tea (chances were it had to have gotten cold by now).

...

Lady Lenz and Lady Ymir were quite surprised to see the prince at the doorstep to their estate. Lady Ymir in particular, however, looked more annoyed than surprised. 

"Why do you want _him,_ Your Majesty?" Lady Ymir asked before taking a puff of a rather strong cigar. She belched out cigar smoke and whiskey before continuing. "The other two ain't got brains, but they do a good enough job! The Jean guy on the other hand? Anytime he tries to deal with the animals, he always pisses them off somehow! I'm thinking of just taking him out back and-"

"Ymir!" Lady Lenz stopped her wife before she could go any farther. She turned to Prince Armin, her expression softening up instantly. "I'd be glad to let Jean be under your employ! Just choose any horse you want, and I'll have him come along with it to your castle."

...

All of the stable workers were all startled by the sound of Lady Ymir stomping and banging her fist against the nearest stable wall. 

"Hey, you!" She then pointed to Jean, shouting loud enough to scare the horses close to her. "Pack up your shit, you're outta here! Now get moving!" 

"What?! Why?! The fuck did I do?!" Even with the relative heat today, Jean could still feel a chill run down a spine. But instead of actually telling him why he had to leave, Lady Ymir took another drag off of her cigar. She then dropped it onto the ground and crushed it with her foot. 

The way she then crossed her arms meant she _really_ should not be disobeyed right now. 

"Just do it!" She yelled. Upon taking a look behind him, Jean noticed that Sasha and Connie were staring at him with looks of shock and disbelief. 

"What'd ya do, Jean?" Connie asked in a loud whisper. "You get into Lady Lenz' gourmet chocolates?" He stared back at them, unable to comprehend what precisely was going on. Then, he shook his head and trudged off to the sleeping quarters to get what few possessions he had. 

When he got back, however, he nearly dropped the bag that he'd put everything in. For in his sight was someone he wasn't expecting to see until sometime later that night. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck this I've stalled on updating this long enough
> 
> Just have this and maybe next time there'll be more substance or whatever
> 
> I just gotta quit being lazy

_**-later that night** _ _**-** _

Jean couldn't be happier with his new sleeping quarters. He was even happier still at knowing he got to live closer to Armin now. 

"Now I can sleep better at night," was what he'd told Armin when the two of them returned to the castle with Armin's beautiful new black horse. "It'll be great having my own room to sleep in; no more Mister 'Snores like a drunk grizzly bear' or Miss 'Chews her pillow in her sleep'."

Armin just smiled at him, before helping him bring the horse into its new home. After that, Armin was gracious enough to show Jean his own one room cottage on the property as well. While he did, Jean noticed him blushing and looking away from him. He just smirked at him while setting down his belongings next to his new bed. 

That was where he was now; Jean grinned as he looked out the window of his new home, admiring the moon amidst the sea of twinkling stars. He ended up becoming so enchanted by the sight, he didn't notice Armin behind him, having slipped into the cottage unnoticed. 

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Armin felt kind of bad to see him jump a bit. He was then reassured to see Jean calm down when he realized it was only him. Jean couldn't stop himself from grinning just a little bit about that.

"This is the second time you've walked in on me now already. I'm starting to think I need to put a bell on you." Now Jean approached Armin, in the process beginning to disrobe himself. "But then again that would probably be considered a crime punishable by death." 

Neither of them said another word; their speaking now took the form of feverish kissing and desperate clutching at one another. 

...

Jean really didn't want to let go when it was all over and done with. He preferred having Armin by his side in his new bed. 

It didn't matter in the end; Armin was already gone and performing his princely duties when early dawn arrived. Rather than get up and tend to the horses, Jean lay on his bed, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling. For some odd reason, he found the wooden boards here to be more interesting than the ones back at Lady Lenz' estate. 

Once Jean did get himself up and moving, he looked out the window. Baron Levi was already walking by en route to the castle. It unsettled Jean how rigid and unfriendly he looked; then again, he _was_ a recent widower. Either way, Jean decided to wait until he was gone before getting ready to do his chores. 

He was also made aware of just how slowly Baron Levi moved, as the latter shuffled away like some kind of lost soul. 

...

Prince Armin was honestly getting tired of being poked and jabbed. The only reason he wasn't complaining about any of it was because it was for his coronation day. Thus, he remained still as a statue while the tailor and seamstress worked on making a proper outfit for him. 

"I think the pants are a liiiittle tight on him," Mister Wagner said as he measured Armin's legs. To his suggestion, the seamstress only let out a scoff. 

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Carolina-Wagner said to her boss/husband. "They're a perfect fit. See?" She then looked up at Prince Armin when she drew her hands and sewing equipment away. "Okay. Give them a try, your Majesty." 

Despite his reservations, Prince Armin did what she asked of him. Just as Mister Wagner had said, however, his pants were a little tight on him. The end result was that he proceeded to walk around like his legs were frozen. It was not at all a comfortable fit. The more he walked, the more he could see it on Mrs. Carolina-Wagner's face. 

"Okay then," she said, ignoring her husband's snickering. "I suppose we do need to loosen these pants up a little bit. If you could just step back up on here and-" But Prince Armin wasn't able to do that; instead, he fell over and ripped the fabric bound about his legs.

It was just a mess, how pathetic _that_ clothing project ultimately ended up being. 


	10. Chapter 10

"Any luck on figuring out who this guy is?" Somewhere far off in an area far away from the raging battlefield, a medical tent with numerous ill and wounded soldiers had been pitched. Inside it, two nurses were currently administering treatment for one of their newer arrivals. 

The nurse answering the question shook her head. "Hard to say. He isn't one of the enemy soldiers, we know that much."

Here, Nurse Dreyse went over to the soldier's belongings, and rifled through them. "I'm guessing that any identification he's got might be in here. So far, though, all we've found is a huge tin of black tea. Looks pretty expensive to me."

Nurse Freudenberg scowled. "If you can't find his ID, then quit going through his stuff! Leave it for the higher-ups to figure it out later. Now help me out here..."

Both nurses then focused more on treating the soldier's many wounds and injuries. Despite their best efforts, the poor man's right arm had to be amputated. Right now they were disinfecting and cleaning the remaining stump. 

"He got trench foot something awful," Nurse Dreyse said to her colleague, "but it looks like we were able to treat it early enough for a full recovery. It might hurt like hell for him to walk once he gets feeling back into his feet, though."

Still checking for any other severe injuries, Nurse Freudenberg nodded. "He's also slightly dehydrated, which we're currently trying to do something about. There's a fever, as well. 

"If I didn't know any better," he said to Nurse Dreyse as he looked up at her, "I'd say this man just refused to die. Wonder what the cause of that is..." 

What the two nurses didn't realize was that on the top of the metal tin filled with black tea bags, a large ribbon had a tag attached to it: 

" _For my beloved Levi_ "

...

Grunting with effort, Levi put his all into doing away with a particularly stubborn stain found on one of Prince Armin's fancy vintage tablecloths. There was no way in Hell that any part of the upcoming coronation was going to be anything else but spotless. 

It kept both Levi's mind and hands busy anyway. As he worked, Levi could then see that new stable boy come in and look confused about what he needed to be doing. At least he seemed to be confused about that-

"Hey, short dark and angry," the young man said to him. "You know where the prince is?" 

Levi was going to pretend to ignore that. Standing up from where he was kneeling in front of the table he'd been using, he got moving as quick as his cleaning outfit would permit him. The stable boy only really knew to follow when Levi was waving him along to. 

...

"I never knew you to be so handy with a needle and thread, Mikasa," Prince Armin said to Chancellor Ackerman as she proceeded to sew up the proper areas. In order to make a cleaner seam, Chancellor Jaeger had to hold everything still. "Or maybe I did and I just don't remember."

Chancellor Ackerman shrugged. "It helps to know in times of emergency. Remember all the times Eren ripped his pants when we were all growing up?" Hearing her say that out loud made Chancellor Jaeger nearly sputter in shock and embarrassment. 

"You promised never to mention those times again when we grew up!" He shouted. She proceeded to ignore him and kept sewing up Prince Armin's pants. 

Later on, the three of them had just finished up the rest of Prince Armin's clothing when he got a visitor. 

...

"So, uh..." Jean poked his head in the doorway to gaze upon Armin and the Chancellors. "If your Majesty wishes to break in his new horse any time soon-"

"Yeah, you're the horse guy, I know," Chancellor Jaeger said to him. "I could smell you a mile away." Jean tried very hard not to snap back at that insult. It wasn't like he could control the stink of animals that clung to him so desperately. 

Either way, he waited until both chancellors left the room. As expected, now that Levi had done his task, he could now return to his cleaning duties. 

Once the two were alone in the room, Jean shut the door behind him, making certain it was locked well enough. Armin tucked his hair behind his ear as he stepped forward, in a half-dressed state thanks to Chancellor Ackerman taking all the clothes she'd been working on. 

"So..." Jean said to end the increasingly awkward silence between them. "Your coronation day's coming up pretty quick, huh?" 

Armin nodded. Although he really only had his legs exposed, right now he felt totally exposed before Jean's piercing gaze. 

"It won't be much longer now, yes." Armin's shy smile faded away. He began fidgeting, causing Jean to step closer to him and hold his hands. "Could I maybe confess something to you? Something I'm afraid to tell even to my chancellors?" 

"Shoot." 

Armin tried to figure out the best way to describe his troubling dilemma:

"...I don't want to be the king of Shiganshina."

It became silent once more as soon as he said that. Armin didn't blame Jean for not knowing what to say to that. 

"How come?" Jean finally asked as he stepped a bit closer. 

Armin breathed deeply before giving his reasons. "There's going to be nothing but paperwork and meetings with the other kingdoms. I won't be able to do things like go to the bookstore, or the library, anymore. Any friends or allies I've made besides my chancellors, I'll have to pretty much abandon.

"Worst of all, though?" Armin choked back a sob. "I won't be able to spend time together with you!" He finally buried his face into Jean's chest. "I can't bear that thought alone, let alone face it becoming reality! I don't want to be king if it means I end up losing you!"

Jean kept quiet through all of that. Then he lifted a hand up to wipe away any tears on his beloved's face, before embracing him.

"How about you just leave all that to me? I'll think of some way we can be together. But for now.. "

Now Jean held up Armin's head, looking him directly in his big blue eyes. He then leaned forward and pressed their lips together. After that, it didn't take long for Armin to go from half naked to completely naked. 

...

Seeing Armin contentedly sleeping after their night together, Jean was captivated by just how utterly gorgeous he was. It was astounding to think only a short while before, he was gasping, moaning, and begging for more. 

Jean could stare at him all night. This time, he decided he was actually going to do just that. 

"He's so pretty," Jean whispered to himself. "And he's mine. The ruler of Shiganshina, and I get to be his lover." Slowly, he leaned in again and pressed a gentle kiss against Armin's cheek. 

Before he could settle in and join Armin in slumber, however, Jean heard the door be forced open, followed by an ear-splitting screech. Knowing it woke Armin up as well, and it wasn't going to be good. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chancellor Jaeger had a feeling that he needed to go check on Prince Armin. He also had another feeling that he needed to be armed with something sharp and dangerous, when he went to go and see how he was doing. 

Both those feelings turned out to be right. Now, in his nightshirt and breeches, and howling loudly like an absolute madman, he began to charge the naked intruder that found himself in the prince's bed. His bellowing war cry was really only there for dramatic effect, though. 

Prince Armin tried telling him that it was all right, that Jean had no ulterior or sinister motives towards him. Chancellor Jaeger would not listen; what he did do was chase Jean out of the room and briefly give chase with his kitchen knife held high in his right hand. 

Once Jean was gone, fully nude, fleeing (and _tripping_ ) down the castle steps, Chancellor Jaeger scurried back to Prince Armin's bedroom. In the process, the knife he was holding loudly clattered to the floor. 

"Are you all right, Armin?!" He asked in quite the panicky voice. "Did he hurt you in any way at all?!" Prince Armin could barely get a word in before Chancellor Jaeger started shaking him uncontrollably like a rag doll. The last thing he said to him in the process was particularly damning. "Baron Levi told me everything!" 

That right there proved that it were Baron Levi that night that found him and Jean in the stable. Why on earth he would reveal such a clandestine relationship for no real motive, it wasn't completely clear. It also meant that Chancellor Jaeger was still bothering the poor baron. Prince Armin made a note to get him to knock that off later. 

The instant Chancellor Jaeger was gone, Prince Armin scurried out of his room and went to look for Jean. He also carried his outfit with him; Jean was probably cold (and no doubt humiliated beyond belief) given what transpired earlier. 

...

Jean wished he'd at least managed to get his underwear while the chancellor was attempting to murder him. Hiding naked underneath a large pile of hay wasn't at all comfortable. Jean was quite surprised that his bed back at Lady Lenz' estate had been stuffed with it.

When the barn door creaked open, and a pair of footsteps could be heard, Jean attempted to adjust himself underneath the hay. 

"It's all right, Jean! You can come out, it's only me!" Armin's voice broke the silence as he looked around. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Jean crawled out and stepped closer. 

"Your chancellor's a complete asshole," he grumbled as he pulled hay out of his hair. 

Armin shrugged, for lack of really knowing what to say. "He can be really overprotective of me, sometimes. That's all, really." He then handed Jean's clothing to him as he spoke. "I'm honestly used to him doing extreme things like that. I still don't like it, but..."

He trailed off. Jean looked around to make sure Armin wasn't followed by anyone, then took his chance to speak while redressing. 

"So..." He decided to just change the subject a little. "Did you mean what you said earlier? That part about not wanting to be king?" 

Quietly, Armin nodded, scratching his arm vigorously. "And for the same reasons I said. If I could run off somewhere far away and not have to worry about royal duties, I would. I wouldn't have to be 'His Majesty Armin Arlert, the great and radiant King of Shiganshina' or whatever it is people want to call me. I could just be...Armin."

As soon as he was more properly dressed, Jean went over and wrapped his arms around one of Armin's. "Well, if His Majesty permits, I could take him somewhere far, _far_ away? If you want, we can leave as early as tonight." Hearing this made Armin blush, and look away. 

"...Yes. I permit that."

...

Under the guise of night, and a set of Jean's clothing that did a good job at concealing, Armin was soon being led to a nearby ferry. The long distance and rough, rocky dirt underneath meant his now bare feet were hurting terribly. 

"Ow!" He whispered. "Ah! Ow! I think I stepped on something sharp!" Armin tried jumping on his other foot as he held the other. 

Thankfully, it didn't take long for Jean to do something about that. He walked back towards a now sitting Armin, taking off his shirt and ripping it up into long strips of fabric. Once they were good enough, he took them and wrapped Armin's feet up with them. 

"You don't go out barefoot often enough," he said as he bound them all tighter. "If you've worked however long I've been, there should be calluses on the soles of your feet. Yeah, they're not that comfortable or nice to look at, but believe me when I say you're going to want them."

Armin nodded. When he stood to his now bandaged up feet, he was trying very hard not to wobble or fall back down. Jean then took the initiative again and picked Armin up, letting him ride on his back. For the rest of the way, that was how the two of them kept going. 

When the two got a fair distance away from the castle, Armin looked behind him and took one final look at the land that he and Jean were leaving. He could only stare as his beloved kingdom as it gradually became farther and farther away. He then turned back so as not to end up making himself cry. 

Nobody at the ferry even bothered asking for identification; it could've been that they figured a pair of lowly stable workers weren't really worth spending time on. All Jean had to do was pay the toll, and he and Armin were on the boat. However, it wasn't until it departed and got a good ways away that either of them sighed in relief. 


	12. Chapter 12

A great shriek of terror could be heard coming from within the castle the next morning. It was then followed by rapid footsteps throughout the hallways and corridors, and unintelligible desperate words. 

"He's gone!" Chancellor Jaeger shouted after managing to reach a moment of clarity. "His Majesty's gone!" The other servants, initially annoyed at being woken up due to the ruckus, were now in complete shock at everything Chancellor Jaeger was telling them. Most of them waited until he was out of their way before stepping out of their rooms.

Once he was off in the other room, all of them began speaking amongst themselves: 

"What do you think prompted this?" 

"Isn't today supposed to be the prince's coronation? Do you think he couldn't take the pressure?" 

"Or maybe he's more of a yellow-bellied coward than we all thought!" 

The servants all lowered their voices, then, as Chancellor Ackerman sprinted past all of them herself. They didn't want to get in any serious trouble for gossiping. Once she was long gone, however, all of them went back to discussing what could possibly have happened to Prince Armin. 

...

Listening to the waves was rather calming. Armin found himself drifting off into near slumber, as he rested in the bed designated for him and Jean. Nearby, Jean could be heard humming to himself as he got ready for whatever chore he'd been assigned to do while on the ship. 

"You should be fine in here," Jean told Armin suddenly while pulling on his work uniform. "I told the people in charge that you were really sick, and bothering you would spread your illness. So none of the crew or passengers should come in and realize who you actually are."

Armin nodded, letting himself relax even further into their surprisingly comfortable bed. 

"Thank you, Jean," he said when pulling a quilt up to his chin. 

Jean had quickly left shortly after, leaving Armin alone now. With no other distractions or interruptions, he found himself now completely drifting off to sleep. 

...

Everybody at the docks was made aware of the chancellors running through and looking for the people responsible for the ferry. Chancellor Jaeger wasted no time in quickly grabbing at random people, and demanding that they disclose Prince Armin's recent whereabouts. 

The people there got pretty annoyed with it rather quickly, to be honest. In fact, the only one who wasn't really paying attention was a recent arrival from somewhere near the battlefield. Neither of the chancellors noticed him right away; he was still coming off of the nearest boat with some assistance. 

"Now, Baron Smith," said Nurse Freudenberg, while he led the baron off the boat with Nurse Dreyse's help. "You are allowed to take off the eye coverings. In fact, I honestly am not sure why you insist on keeping it on right now." 

"Maybe he's waiting until you're gone so he doesn't have to look at you," Nurse Dreyse retorted while keeping a firm grip on Baron Smith's amputated arm.

This, of course, prompted another bickering session between the two, causing the two of them to forget what they were even doing. Baron Smith didn't really need them to help him back home anyway; he knew the kingdom like the back of his hand (the one that hadn't been blown off, anyway). 

It was while Baron Smith was making his way through the crowds that he could hear a familiar voice; Prince Armin's more loud and rambunctious chancellor. The calmer one was trying his best to make him stop from shouting, to no avail. As he listened in on the panicking, he also heard a name he was quite well acquainted with. 

"Excuse me," he called out to Chancellors Jaeger and Ackerman. "Did I hear you say 'Levi'?" Even with a missing arm, and temporary blindness, Baron Smith had been hell bent on returning home. He knew that his beloved would never forgive him if he ended up coming back in a casket. 

Both Chancellors stopped, and looked in his direction. Unsure whether or not they were in front of him, he extended his hand out to them anyway. He then made his only request to them clear: 

"Take me to him." 


	13. Chapter 13

It seemed that no matter how hard and how often Levi scrubbed, there was just no end to the dirt and grime on the castle floors and walls. Were it not for his insistence that everything needed to be completely clean no matter what, he'd probably have given up a very long time ago. 

All around him, the servants were gossiping about and/or panicking, worried that Prince Armin could have had something bad happen to him. Considering what he'd told Chancellor Jaeger the other day, he was fairly sure that he was the one responsible for all of this happening. 

That had honestly not been his intent. Or at least, not what he'd been expecting. Regardless, Levi continued on with his chores. When finished with the floor, he threw his washrag into the now cold water of his bucket, and continued on. 

In no way was he expecting to see what awaited him at the bottom of the stairs. 

...

"We're almost there, Baron," Nurse Freudenberg said to the man currently on the stretcher behind him. Exactly how the chancellors managed to get the two nurses to quit with their squabbling, Baron Smith would not ever know (although Chancellor Ackerman seemed to have been quite involved in that).

On the way back to the castle from the docks, despite his insistence that he didn't need to, Baron Smith had been forced to lay onto a stretcher the rest of the way. At either side of him, the chancellors were keeping watch over him as well. If Baron Smith could hear close enough, he could hear Chancellor Jaeger grumbling underneath his breath:

"Lousy news not giving accurate enough stories. Can't believe he ended up alive after all. Lousy son of a..." Baron Smith wasn't planning to say anything about that; he was sure the chancellor was muttering about him, though. In the end, he decided to address it in as polite a manner as he could manage: 

"I do apologize if my being alive interfered with your efforts to seduce my beloved, Chancellor." That shut Chancellor Jaeger up pretty quickly. He in fact stayed quiet the rest of the way there. 

Once they arrived at the castle, Baron Smith couldn't help but grin when he heard the sound of a bucket dropping to the floor, along with water splashing. Then followed rapid footsteps to be at his side. The Baron told the nurses and chancellors to leave him with who he very much hoped was his husband. 

...

Levi knelt down next to the stretcher, waiting for Erwin to hoist himself up into a sitting position. After he was able to (which was something of a feat given he'd lost an arm), he turned his head in the direction he believed Levi to be in. He then grinned as he now began to unravel the bandages still covering his eyes. Bit by bit, his restored eyesight revealed to him the man he'd been determined to come home to.

He smiled more warmly at Levi now, offering his arm out in hopes of an embrace. Levi, of course, was quite willing to oblige. The both of them proceeded to shed tears of happiness upon being reunited, followed by a gentle kiss. Once done with that, Levi opened his mouth to say something: 

"...Erwin." 

"Yes, Levi?" 

"You smell like shit." 

...

The house standing before Armin and Jean now wasn't what anyone would call 'glamourous', or 'fancy', or even 'liveable'. But it was really about the best the two of them together could afford at this point. Parts of the walls were rotting, and a large hole was in the roof and caving in. 

It was the most beautiful place Armin had seen. The change from a castle to this was quite a welcome one. 

"I know it's in serious need of fixing up," Jean said to him as he led him to the entrance, "but it shouldn't be that hard to do. The guy that sold this place to us said buying wood and nails wouldn't be that expensive." He held the door open for Armin, gently ushering him inside. "Course, we need to find a source of income first, so..." 

Armin wasn't really listening to him. Instead, he just flopped down onto what he presumed was to be their bed. It wasn't all that comfy, but right now he honestly didn't care about that. 

He wasn't going to be aware of the news spreading of his disappearance for a while. 


	14. Chapter 14

After the brief respite that was Baron Smith and Levi reuniting, they and the rest of the kingdom were back to nearly rioting over Prince Armin's disappearance. Chancellor Jaeger and Chancellor Ackerman were both at their wit's end, trying to figure out why he would want to leave in the first place. 

"Could it be that he felt like he wasn't ready for such a responsibility, Eren?" Chancellor Ackerman told him. Chancellor Jaeger didn't really hear her say this; instead he was now beginning to draw his own conclusions. 

"I bet it was that horse guy!" He said a bit too loudly; several of the servants in the hallway jumped upon hearing him. "That horse-faced stable worker brainwashed our poor Armin and kidnapped him!" Needless to say, there really was no way to stop the chancellor once he got on this train of thought. 

Everyone else did try to sway him out of it, to no avail. 

...

Armin looked down at the rusted blade shears on the table in front of him, waiting for Jean to get back from wherever he'd gone off to. The shears looked as if they had definitely seen better days; it was quite a wonder as to how exactly they hadn't already completely fallen apart from long ago. 

Behind him, the front door opened and closed, signaling that Jean was back now. Without saying a word, he walked over and lay a knife next to the shears. This, of course wasn't in nearly as bad a condition; neither of them wanted to risk Armin getting a case of blood poisoning. 

"Sure you wanna do this?" He took a gentle grasp of Armin's hair, taking the shears and proceeding to snip off all the long blond hair he could. "You might wanna make sure this is a final decision since, well, I guess it doesn't matter since I'm already in the process..." 

Trying not to move his head too much, Armin nodded. "The next time I look in the mirror, I want to see a regular civilian, not a member of royalty. If that means cutting off hair and leaving scars on my face, so be it." 

Jean didn't say anything else. Instead he just kept trimming until Armin's hair was as close to his head as he could manage it. Once that was done, he picked up the knife and started dragging it across Armin's soft, pale face. Both of them cringed while doing this, Armin out of pain, and Jean out of concern and worry. Armin's cries of aforementioned pain didn't help matters, either.

Jean was at least cautious and careful while he dabbed the blood off of Armin's now scratched up face, before wrapping gauze bandages around his head. 

"I swear, it's like I'm looking at someone completely different," Jean said as he now led Armin over to a small mirror hanging on the wall. Armin took a good long glance at himself, and agreed wholeheartedly. 

Another wave of fresh blood was already beginning to seep through. So long as it didn't go completely soiled until a few hours afterward, it should be okay. It had to be okay; Armin and Jean needed it to be okay. If it weren't, that could cause problems. 

They had enough of those as it were. 

...

"I'm flattered that my apparent death caused such an impact on you, if you were wearing mourning clothes for so long." In their bedroom that night, Baron Smith and Baron Levi were in the process of making up for lost time. Baron Smith tried his best to maneuver about now that he was missing an arm. It wasn't a very easy task.

Even so, he was intent on undressing and pleasing his beloved. Now, he knelt at the side of their bed, in between Levi's legs. 

"I only wish I could have remained at your side, and not worried you-" Levi then clapped a hand over his mouth. When he pulled it away, he quickly replaced it with his lips. 

Now Baron Smith finally managed to pull Levi's black pants all the way off his legs, dropping them off to the side along with the rest of their clothing. He hoisted himself up onto the bed, gently pushing Levi down onto his back before joining him. 

Erwin looked over Levi's unclothed body now, liking what he saw. He then waggled his eyebrows before throwing his arm over Levi's torso. While he did that, he chuckled at the way Levi rolled his eyes as they kissed again. 

For now the two could enjoy private time without Chancellor Jaeger shouting about Prince Armin's whereabouts. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter I know leave me alone I didn't know what else to put after like a month and a half or something


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot where I was going with this story

It was clear by now that the Kingdom of Shiganshina was a lost cause. At least, that's what it seemed, given all the fires and looting and rioting as of late. 

With the few belongings they managed to carry with them, Sasha and Connie evacuated their now mostly ransacked place of employment. They were, if nothing else, grateful that Lady Lenz and Lady Ymir managed to escape. That meant they weren't around for when their estate caught fire afterwards. 

"Jean's really screwed the pooch this time, huh?" Sasha asked of Connie. Both of them were trying to be discreet as they passed through the numerous angry mobs coming from the opposite direction. Connie looked at her, then, with a very confused expression on his face.

"I didn't think Jean was into that."

"No, Connie, I mean..." Sasha sighed out of exasperation. "I'll explain later. First let's focus on getting out of here alive." The two pressed onward, holding hands so as not to be separated on their way to the docks. 

...

Thanks to being in the right place and the right time, Baron Smith didn't have to worry about fighting too many of the crowds as he and Levi escaped. In order to make certain that they would stay together, Levi held his arms around his dearly beloved's neck as he carried him. 

"I won't leave you alone to mourn again," Baron Smith told him upon escaping the main district their home had been. "You've already experienced being a widower, and I won't allow a repeat of that, all right?" Levi simply buried his face into Baron Smith's neck and nodded. Both of them remained quiet until finally reaching the docks.

Seeing the amount of desperate evacuees already there was horrifying. However, Baron Smith had an idea. With a little effort, he knelt downwards and set Levi onto the ground. 

"I hope you know how to get through here," he said to him. "I doubt I can be of much help while you do it, though." Levi nodded, then strode to the edge of the crowd with purpose. Baron Smith then followed Levi as the latter roughly elbowed his way through numerous distraught individuals. 

Both of them managed to reach a boat without too much interference, thankfully. As the two looked for a place to stand, they saw Chancellors Jaeger and Ackerman barrelling through to reach the boat themselves. When Levi got a decent glimpse, he groaned and rolled his eyes. 

...

Upon hearing the news from Shiganshina, Armin and Jean proceeded to reach the boatyard that connected to the docks. They watched as numerous escapees exited the boat in droves. There was quite a lot of shoving and pushing, as well as the occasional punch to the face. 

"Oh dear..." Was really all that Armin could say in regards to the mess. Jean simply tried to keep him away from the crowds. "If I'd known that this sort of thing was going to happen-" Jean didn't let Armin finish that sentence, before clapping a hand over his mouth. 

"Your chancellors might still be around," Jean whispered to him. Armin just nodded. The both of them continued scoping out everyone, until the boats were all empty. Even then, they kept watching for a little longer before they headed back. 

At the end of the night, both of them made the difficult choice to leave as quickly as possible. There would be no way that they could live here in peace now that the kingdom of Shiganshina was all but a lost cause. Armin actually found himself weeping out of grief, which Jean couldn't comfort him about. 

"You sure you want to leave, though, Armin?" Jean had asked him. "Depending on how insistent your chancellors are at finding us, we're probably going to keep being chased for a really long time." 

Armin nodded. "If it means being with you, then I would gladly go to the farthest reaches of the planet." That, admittedly, got Jean to smile a little, despite the situation.

For the rest of the short time they were at what was meant to be their home, they packed up their few belongings and prepared accordingly. It was under the dark of night (and their choses disguises) that they both fled, holding onto the hope that perhaps in time, they would find a place to call home. 

But until then, it was going to be a long journey. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Screw it Imma just end it here I dragged my feet on this long enough


End file.
